It's March. It's Madness.
Last year, I put together a bracket of 64 animated movies, with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? coming out on top.
This year, with a little more mature theming, I put together a bracket of War Movies. As with the Animated Bracket, these entries can only be movies I've seen. These must have been full-length feature films, so no TV Movies, which does rule out some very good films, but these are the rules. I probably could have done just a World War 2 bracket and filled in all 64, but I figured who wants a tournament all from one conference?
There will be no seeds given, as comparing movies, outside of head to head, is crazy difficult.
Round 1 will feature some similar movies facing off against each other.
Northwest Bracket:
Match 1: Stalingrad vs Enemy at the Gates
Match 2: Saving Private Ryan vs The Longest Day
Match 3: The Tuskegee Airmen vs Battle of Britain
Match 4: A Bridge Too Far vs The Bridge on the River Kwai
Match 5: Sink the Bismarck! vs Das Boot
Match 6: Patton vs Dunkirk
Match 7: Kelly's Heroes vs The Dirty Dozen
Match 8: Midway (1970) vs Tora Tora Tora
Now that I see it, this has become the World War 2 bracket, so this will be the World War 2 bracket.
Vote here. I'll collect the results in 48 hours.
Comments
I'm just going to assume if I have not seen it, it must not be that good, and vote that way.
That's fair, but I would also recommend seeing them, if you can.
This is the Madness poll we need!
How can you put Kelly's heroes and Dirty Dozen against each other. That should a final four matchup...
It is the Telly Savalas Memorial match
Not the Donald Sutherland match?
I would expect Saving Private Ryan to be the #1 seed here but Bridge on the River Kwai is one of my all-time favorites. I wrote a paper on it in film class.
I don't really have seeds, just matchups. After Round 1 I'm gonna properly bracket the tournament.
A lot of good matchups here. Tora Tora Tora and the original Midway were both good movies.
Tora, Tora, Tora might be my favorite on the list. In part because it tells of things from a different side than what we normally get. Honestly, I might put Letters from Iwo Jima as my favorite war movie of all time. Not 100% sure though. Would need to think about it as so many good ones it is hard to pick just 1. The Longest Day was awesome too, so ...
Das Boot also. Good flick!
Similar to Letters from Iwo Jima, I love The Thin Red Line. That's one of my favorite war movies. So many different things going on with so many different people and the touch on all of them that usually affect all servicemen in combat to some degree. Love that movie. But I see they missed the tournament this year.
Had not seen either of the ones in group 3, so I used the highly scientific method of tossing a coin to decide.
Battle of Britain is great because they had actual pilots from both sides as technical advisors for the film, including Adolf Galland and Douglas Bader. I also applaud it's depiction of the young female fighter directors and the WAAFs.
Tuskegee Airmen is just one of those movies that sticks with you.
Both have incomparably stellar casting.
The Bridge over the River Kwai, Midway, and Tora Tora Tora are the best three here. Tough bracket.
Almost should have included Pearl Harbor and a couple other duds to really voting beyond the first stage.
Feel bad for "A bridge to far," good movie but nothing compared to River Kwai.
Some "duds" will be appearing in the other brackets. For the first round, I've matched up roughly similar films, or with similar themes or elements. So you have the battle of the "Bridges", "Stalingrad", "D-Day", Savalas/Sutherland" "US vs Japan Navy", "German Navy", "Aerial Warfare", and the one word epics in this bracket.
Bracket 2 will feature "Mel Gibson doesn't like England", "Crusades", "Civil War East", "Civil War West", "Napoleonic Wars", "Tom Berenger Special", "Vietnam Special Forces", and "Vietnam War."
Bracket 3 features "Lesser known Civil War", "Vietnam - featuring Willem Dafoe", "Vietnam part 3", "Vietnam - Comedy", "20th Century Sub-Saharan Africa", "World War 1 epics", "World War 1 - Other", "Greco-Persian Wars."
Bracket 4 features "England's late 19th Century wars", "East Asian epics", "Wars in the Persian Gulf", "Hundred Years War", "American - Other", "Comedies of War", "World War 2 - Special Forces", and "Americans in East Asia."
Is the George Washington mini-series on the board? Because if it is and doesn't win, I will be very angry.
Movies only. No miniseries/TV shows meaning no Band of Brothers, either.
I still watch Band of Brothers once a year, and that thing came out when I was a sophomore so many many years ago.
While I haven't seen it yet, I could have included Midway (2019) as the dud to face off against Midway (1970)
I was wondering about that as well. It would have definitely been a dud in comparison.
First of all, how dare you.
Woof. Several blue bloods getting axed round 1. Seeding would have saved a few. Although the winner of this region is probably going to be the ultimate victor.
And you mean Kelly's Heroes.
Dunkirk and it's not particularly close.
It was a good movie, but I would probably have it 5th on the seeding from this round. So you are right not particularly close to the top selection.
Apocalypse now, The Deer Hunter, and All Quiet on the Western Front would like a word....
Those words will be heard over the coming days.
Oh im sure...im just sayin its not a lock for the winner to come from the WW2 bracket.
Just highly likely.
Also, where is Full Metal Jacket??
Longest day vs saving private Ryan is 2 #1 seeds going at it in the first round that's a tough match up with longest day getting my final vote
if you gave us some reasoning why, with a detailed breakdown of a few scenes, it would technically be one of french's TKP film reviews
If I were to cast a vote during this as a tie-breaker, I would tend to have to give it to Longest Day, because, while Saving Private Ryan has the hands down best action scenes in a movie about World War 2, Longest Day takes the time to show all the facets of the war, with both sides being represented. You have the prep work, the airborne assaults, the shore bombardment, the Resistance activities, the aerial combat portion, the Germans' handicap, and not to mention the casting.
Sean Connery, John Wayne, Richard Burton, and Henry Fonda in the same film is the only reason you need to watch it. The book is long but a very good military historical read and I enjoyed it more than the movie.
Robert Mitchum, Gert Frobe, Eddie Albert, Paul Anka, Red Buttons, Robert Ryan, and Richard Dawson too
It had a cast that really can't be matched.
The book The Longest Day is still one of my favorite reads. I still own my great uncles copy who landed on Omaha Beach. He told me he never read it and had no interest in doing so, but also admitted that it was because he heard from friends that it captured the day so well, not that he thought it was a bad book.
It also served as a primary inspiration for World War Z (the awesome book, not the shitty movie). Major influence on its narrative structure
Ditto x100. The Longest Day only wins out because I probably watched it two dozen times with my grandfather.
Shame there wasnt room for Fury, Inglorious Bastards or The Great Escape in this bracket.
*Edit - how could i forget about M*A*S*H* (although it is Korea) and Top Secret! classics!.
What, comedies dont count?
The Great Escape is a great movie.
Steve Mcqueen is the tits.
As terrible as it seems, Fury and The Great Escape are not films I have seen yet.
Want to, though.
I'm debating putting the Basterds in the final bracket, it fits a theme, but I don't know which of the others I'd pull from it.
Fury is a good movie, albeit having really inaccurate tank warfare tactics.
Go and watch the Great Escape. It was actually based on a true story (loosely). Another one of those movies with perfect casting.
M*A*S*H* will make an appearance. And, yes, comedies do count and are well represented.
Just give it to kellys heros or I'll drink and watch kellys heros anyway. If you dont think I'm right you can just take those negative waves elsewhere man.
My PM and I put together a similar poll for our operating group and it was a huge success. We chose movies from '95 to '05 across the spectrum and Saving Private Ryan vs. Titanic ended up in the championship with SPR winning easily.
Not sure if we hate ourselves enough to do it again...
There appears to be an opportunity for ballot box stuffing on that Google doc, fyi.
Would you happen to know of a free online polling service that restricts attempts?
I don't off-hand. I've seen people use surveymonkey, but idk if a unique response option is part of their free plan.
Thought I'd bring it to your attention in case it was an oversight. Otherwise, we'll just have to trust everyone to be on the up-and-up.
Another great WW2 movie...the devil's Brigade. Awesome flick. "Das diche Ende kommt noch."
Cannot believe Patton isn't getting any love here, George C. Scott was magnificent portraying the most interesting American General of the 20th century. Oscar winning performance back when the Academy Awards were more about demonstrating talent rather than politics.
I voted for Patton. I thought it was the better movie of the two.
I am partial to Back to Bataan and The Great Raid, as they touch on what my grandfather went through as a POW in the Death March of Bataan.
My grandfather and namesake
https://bataanproject.com/provisional-tank-group/peterson-s-sgt-robert-e/
The Great Raid will make an appearance later
I worked with the gentlemen who raised the flag for many years. Still going strong in his 90's.
Also good one on the Philippines was "They Were Expendable"
Two other faves of WW2 movies with the Duke are " In Harms Way"(very long movie about the US Navy) and of course "Sands of Iwo Jima".
As a kid and even til today, WW2 has been a passion of mine reading and watching movies.(Perhaps because I was an Air Force brat and was born on Okinawa) The battle of Tarawa in the central Pacific's Gilbert islands is little known by most folks but was the first test of the amphibious assaults across the Pacific and one of the bloodiest -island was two miles long and 1/2 mile wide but took 4 days to capture and USMC lost 1000 KIA and 2100 WIA while all but about 100 of the 5000 Japanese defenders were killed. The Second Marine division had a 25% casualty rate in the 76 hour battle.
For books, my favorite series were W.E.B, Griffins multiple series- The Corp Series (USMC from 1930s to Vietnam), The Brotherhood of War(US Army 1946- 1970s), Men At War(OSS in WW2 Europe)Honor Bound (OSS in WW2 Argentina) and Clansetine Opeations (early CIA immediately afte WW2),
I really wanted to include In Harm's Way. I love the Battle off Samar, historically.
The Big Red 1 is another great one, hope it shows up.
It was on my first four out, and it hurt to put it there, as a Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill fan, but I already had 2 D-Day movies, which were pretty convincingly better.
Maybe if I do a just WW2 bracket next year.
Darn. Lee Marvin fought in WWII
"Lee Marvin did enlist in the U.S. Marines, saw action as Private First Class in the Pacific during World War II, and was wounded (in the buttocks) by fire which severed his sciatic nerve. ..., this injury occurred during the battle for Saipan in June 1944"
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
I have him represented in Dirty Dozen, though
True, thanks for reminder.
Did not know Lee was buried in Arlington. Says a lot about him.
No Hacksaw Ridge, warhorse, 1917, All Quiet on the Western Front, Captain American: Civil War?
Second Bracket available for voting
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) should be considered as one of the best war movies ever made. For me, the film is even currently included in my top 5 best movies of all time. I thought it was a magical story and production and I recommend it 11/10 times to anyone who hasn't seen it.
I have seen one of these movies
Need to get a better TV in your stall.
Northwest Bracket: Round 1 is in the books with the following results.
Match 1: Enemy at the Gates sniped Stalingrad 52-16.
Match 2: Saving Private Ryan sticky bombed The Longest Day 57-12.
Match 3: The Tuskegee Airmen strafed Battle of Britain 33-32
Match 4: The Bridge on the River Kwai blew up A Bridge Too Far 47-19
Match 5: Das Boot sank the Bismarck 53-11
Match 6: Patton held Dunkirk in the nose and kicked it in the ass 39-32
Match 7: The Dirty Dozen said Kelly's Heroes was through 41-24.
Match 8: Midway awoke a sleeping giant against Tora Tora Tora and got torpedoed 34-31.
My only response to #2 is young people probably never saw the Longest Day.
Loved the Longest Day, but bigtime uphill battle going against Saving Private Ryan. The Longest Day is great war movie. Saving Private Ryan is a great movie period.